Rowdyruff Rule
by DragonShadow
Summary: What if one moment in time, one single instant changed that had affected the entire course of history?


Rowdyruff Rule  
  
  
Professor Utonium hung his head in defeat as he walked helplessly through the cemetery. The chill night wind swept through his lab coat and sent a chill running down his spine. He clutched the garment closer around him for protection from the wind, but he knew the chill would never leave him. Six months after it had happened he still remembered that day, and he could never forget it no matter how he wished to. It haunted his dreams and corrupted his vision every day.  
  
He looked up at the crescent moon that shined down on him from the deep black sky. He didn't dare go anywhere during the day when Townsville's guardians might spot him and take him back to Mojo Jojo's prison. For six months he'd tried to find a way stop the Rowdyruff Boys rule over the city, but he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't even re-create the Powerpuff Girls, his lab had been the boys first target. Now he was left homeless, desperately looking for places to hide during the day, and hunting for a way to stop the tyranny at night.  
  
He couldn't figure out how the Rowdyruff Boys had proved to be stronger than his Powerpuff Girls. Logically the girls were just as powerful, plus had more experience at fighting... but still they'd been... Been...  
  
He didn't have to finish that thought as he finally approached a single gravestone at the highest point of the cemetery. The inscription read "The Powerpuff Girls, Blossom Bubbles and Buttercup. May they protect Townsville forever in the hearts of its citizens." Even their gravestone seemed to radiate a kind of gentle light, the same he'd always seen in their eyes... How could this have happened? It wasn't supposed to be like this... They should have...  
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"...Won!" Brick exclaimed with a proud grin as the puck slid right past his blond haired brothers defense. "I won! Now pay up!" He held out one hand for the money from the bet they'd made. Boomer grumbled and reached into one pocket to pull out a hundred dollar bill and hand it to his brother calmly. "Thank you and come again." Brick smirked as he stuffed the bill into his pocket.  
  
"I still say you're cheating." Boomer grumped.  
  
"Ah stop making excuses ya whiner." Brick snapped before turning to look at their other brother, who was watching TV just a few feet away. They had just about everything three little boys could want right here in this entertainment room. "Hey Butch, how 'bout a game? I'm through kicking this sissies butt." He asked.  
  
"Nah not now, Jackie's about to get his ass kicked again." He was still staring at the screen intently as the billionth fight sequence started on the movie he was watching.  
  
"Wassa matter? You chicken?" Brick asked mockingly.  
  
"No I'm just busy right now." Butch shot back angrily.  
  
"Come on chicken-wuss, chicken-wuuuuuss!" Brick mocked him mercilessly.  
  
"You wanna start something pansy?" Butch demanded as he floated up off the couch to face his brother menacingly.  
  
"Bring it on!" Brick exclaimed, putting his fists in front of him.  
  
Another voice came from the door to the playroom. "Boys, boys. How many times have I told you?" Mojo asked as he walked up to the two boys who were still staring each other down. "If you want to fight go fight the citizens of Townsville, not each other." He reminded then with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Hey that actually sounds pretty good." Brick said with an eager smile. "Last one to the mall is a Powerpuff Girl!" He streaked out the window immediately followed by Boomer and Butch. Neither one of them didn't want to be thought of as one of those sissy weaklings.   
  
"Hey that's my cat!" A woman exclaimed as Butch stopped to have a little fun on the way to the mall.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll give it back in a minute." Butch told her with a smirk. The cat hissed furiously as he grabbed it by its tail and started slinging it around. "Hey Boomer, go long!" He hurled the screaming cat at his blond haired brother, who caught it effortlessly.  
  
"HEY!" He screamed with rage as the cat clawed at him, putting several rips in his black and blue shirt. "This is my best shirt ya damn fleabag!" He angrily slammed the cat into the sidewalk like a football, putting a few cracks in the pavement around it.  
  
"Fluffy!" The woman cried as she ran up to check on her cat. It mewed pathetically and stumbled before she finally caught it and picked it up again. "Why don't you boys just go home?" she pleaded with them.  
  
"We can go where we want you old bat!" Butch shoved her to the street to prove his point. All three boys burst into furious laughter as she slammed into the street hard, grunting from the impact.  
  
"Come on guys, I'm getting kind of hungry." Brick told his brothers after their laughter had finally died down. "Let's grab some grub." So the three of them streaked off again to find something to eat.   
  
"Ah chicken, sweet." Boomer said as he landed in front of a KFC. His brothers landed beside him and looked up at the door. The closed sign was up, but that didn't really matter. Brick walked up to the door and knocked anyway.  
  
"Can't you read the sign!?" A voice shouted angrily from inside the store. A moment later the entire wall burst inward as the boys punched their way through to float up to the manager of the restaurant. "Oh... It's you..." He said, his voice shaking fearfully.  
  
"Still closed?" Brick asked, quirking one eyebrow.  
  
"N... no... I'll go get the fryer warmed up..." The man quickly rushed into the back to prepare the food while the three boys just sat down at one of the booths to wait.  
  
Boomer leaned back and propped his feet up on the table, sighing contentedly. "I tell you dudes, I could not imagine a sweeter setup than this." He told them with a smile on his face.  
  
"I hear that." Butch replied, grinning. "We can do absolutely anything we want to and nobody can do anything to stop us." He said proudly.  
  
"Yeah really." Brick said, propping his own feet up the window. He let them down again though in a moment, staring at one of the windows on the side of the buildings with an evil grin on his face. "Well look who decided to go out on the town..." He said softly, grinning. His brothers turned around quickly to see Professor Utonium walking along the alley behind the restaurant. They grinned as well in a moment. They'd been looking for him... well he couldn't get away this time.  
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The Professor put one hand to his head as he walked along the dark alleys to avoid being spotted by anyone. He was extremely surprised then when he heard a voice speak from right above him. "Having a nice night Professor?" He jumped back and looked up in alarm as three small shadows drifted down in the air, the crescent moon at their backs.  
  
"Just leave me alone!" He pleaded as he turned and tried to run. Instantly all three of them appeared in front of them in colored streaks of light. Their arms were crossed over their chests glaring at him threateningly.  
  
"Mojo still wants you Professor. Don't make us take you in the hard way..." Brick told him with a smirk.  
  
"On second thought... Please DO." Butch corrected his brother with an eager grin. The three Rowdyruff Boys advanced on the Professor as he backed away slowly.  
  
"I'm only trying to get by, what can I do to you now?" He demanded somewhat angrily.  
  
"He's arguing... does that count as resistance?" Boomer asked.  
  
"Close enough for me... sick 'im boys!" Brick yelled eagerly. Before the Professor could even think all three Rowdyruff Boys were on top of him, giving him a pummeling as only they could. In only a few moments he was thrown up against the trash can behind the KFC, crumpling to the ground a moment later weakly. He grunted painfully and tried to get to his feet, but three pairs of hands grabbed him from behind and hauled him into the air before he could get too far. He passed out a few moments later from the pain as they flew over the city.  
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He woke up with a pounding headache, unsure as to where he was or how long it had been. A quick look around him confirmed that he was indeed trapped in one of the cells Mojo had built underneath City Hall. He pushed himself painfully to his hands and knees though he knew there was really no point to moving. The door was electronically locked... Maybe he could override the locking mechanism from the panel in here that was placed so Mojo could get out?  
  
"Hello Professor Utonium." Mojo Jojo's voice came from some speaker in the room. "I hope you like the way your room looks, because you are now my prisoner, and being my prisoner, you will not be going anywhere for a long time, because prisoners do not move unless I say so, which I will not say so because I am evil. Mwahahahaha!" Mojo's voice taunted him. The voices of the boys chuckled somewhere in the background of the speaker.  
  
Professor Utonium didn't even reply, instead just pushing himself up to his feet and stumbling toward the door. He knew Mojo had moved his own lab down here somewhere... If he could get there without being spotted he might be able to make something useful and get out of here...  
  
"Hey, what do you think you are doing!?" Mojo demanded as the Professor worked furiously at the lock. "Stop that, you cannot get out of..." He stopped in a few moments in astonishment when the door opened after only a minutes work. "Boys, after him now!" Mojo howled furiously.  
  
Professor Utonium darted down the hall as quickly as he could, trying to find something to tell him just where he was. He had to get to that lab before the Rowdyruff Boys showed up, or he doubted they would settle for just taking him back to his cell this time.  
  
He stopped suddenly when he saw a sign on the wall that gave him his bearings. He'd run clear across the place to the east side of the sub-basement... the lab was over here somewhere if he could just reach it...  
  
His heart skipped a few beats when he heard the familiar sounds of the Rowdyruff Boys flying through the hallways in search of him. Quickly he lunged into the nearest room he could find... just in time too. The three colored streaks went by the instant he got the door shut behind him.  
  
He leaned his back against the door and panted wearily, looking around the room. There was electronics and equipment scattered all around... the lab! He'd found it!  
  
He pushed away from the door and began to search through the equipment scattered around the room. He didn't even know what he was looking for, some vague hope that he could set all of this right. Or maybe just a way to end his own pain here and now... Either way he still looked through the piles of junk until he found one piece of equipment that gave him hope... For his future and his past...  
  
He reached down and picked up the small device from the table. How Mojo had done it he didn't know, but he didn't care either. This could help him if he used it right...  
  
He jumped in fear as three voices appeared just outside the door. "Any sign of him boys?" Bricks scratchy voice was muffled slightly by the door. Professor Utonium quickly tried to set the date he wanted to get to. If he did this right he could prevent this from ever happening... if he was willing to take the risk of destroying pretty much the entire universe.  
  
He looked up at the door for only a moment as it flew open to let the Rowdyruff Boys float inside. "There you are you old coot. Get back to your cell before we kick your butt to Alkatraz or something!" Brick demanded instantly. The Professor simply pushed the button as quickly as he could, praying he'd been able to set it right before he threw himself into the vortex that formed in front of him.  
  
"He's getting away!" Butch exclaimed angrily.  
  
"After him!" Brick yelled. The three boys threw themselves through the vortex behind him just before it closed, leaving the room just as it had been moments before.  
  
They all plunged through the blue vortex, moving at speeds even the Rowdyruff Boys had never known existed. In a few moments the Professor reached the end of the tunnel, slamming into the ground hard enough to send a wave of pain through his body.  
  
"Ow..." He grunted painfully as he pushed himself up to his feet, looking around quickly. He knew the boys were right behind him, he had to work quickly or they might try and interfere with someone back here... Whenever he was... That was what he had to find out first.  
  
He stumbled away from the vortex and turned a corner, stopping and staring when he saw the Rowduruff Boys standing on the street in front of him. They couldn't already be here, he'd beat them through the vortex, this wasn't possible...  
  
Then he realized they weren't facing him, but rather they were staring intently down the street at three other figures. His girls... He'd come back to the DAY the Powerpuff Girls had fought the Rowdyruff Boys. It was closer to the battle than he'd hoped; he didn't have much time. He had to get to his lab now and prepare! Luckily he knew just where he'd been at this time... he remembered everything about this day and could avoid meeting himself.  
  
Quickly he took off down the street toward his house and lab. He just hoped this worked.  
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The boys emerged from the vortex in three flashes of light, slamming into the ground and making three huge craters as their own momentum sent them spinning out of control. They all just lay there for a moment trying to get their bearings before they finally sat up to take stock of where they wound up.  
  
"Where are we?" Butch asked as he rubbed the back of his neck painfully.  
  
"Townsville... Somewhere downtown." Brick replied, looking around just as confused. They all jumped in surprise when a bright crimson streak flew right past them. "Whoa!" It was followed in a moment by a blue one, then another blue one and a green one whizzed by. "What's going on here? Someone make more Powerpuffs?" He demanded in alarm.  
  
"No dudes, look!" Boomer exclaimed in shock, pointing at the streaks that had flown by them. Blossom and Bubbles were just facing off against Boomer and Butch respectively. There was no sign of Brick or Buttercup. "It's our fight with the Powerpussy Bitches!"  
  
"What does that senile fool think he's doing?" Brick asked with a dark smirk. "If he thinks he's going to change the past he's got another thing coming." He said.  
  
"Where would he go? How does he plan to do this?" Butch asked confusedly.  
  
"He's probably gone to his lab knowing him... We've got to beat him there! Come on Rowdyruff Boys! Time to teach this old bastard to mess with us!" Brick said determinedly. The three boys then streaked off across the sky, heading for the only place they knew the Professor would run to. They didn't care that the citizens saw them and looked in confusion at the third set of colors. They had to protect what they had.  
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Professor Utonium luckily managed to reach his basement lab before the boys had regained their senses enough to realize where and when they'd gone. He was already hard at work on a formula to revive the girls after their unavoidable defeat. It was all he could do now, he'd wanted to enhance their strength before the fight but he'd shown up too late.  
  
Concentrated Chemical X mixed with a compound designed to be absorbed through the skin by osmosis... if his theory was right this would be able to revive the girls after the final blow was struck... But only if he could get it into contact with their skin before their vitals ceased completely... And getting to them wasn't going to be easy with the boys from his time probably looking for him by now.  
  
He looked up in alarm when he heard the door being smashed open by a tremendous impact. Speaking of the boys from his time... This wasn't good. What should he do now? Well he did know more about their physiology than even their creator did, he should be able to make something with his lab back... but he had to hurry.  
  
He cringed when he heard the door to his lab being flung open before he could do anything else. "Alright boys, search every corner of this place! If there's something with a crack in it, tear the damn thing open! We need to find Professor Utonium NOW!" Brick yelled. Instantly all three boys streaked down the stairs and began to scour the lab while the Professor hid in the cabinet with his chemicals.  
  
He shook fearfully as he listened to the boys trashing the lab in search of him. Slowly the noise moved toward him. They would find him any minute now, he had to do something...  
  
He looked beside him at the various chemicals on the shelf beside him. It would be risky trying to use them without the labs equipment to monitor it, but he really had no choice. He grabbed some of the vials and began mixing as carefully as he could. In a few moments he had a bubbling concoction that, if he remembered his formulas properly, should have quite a reaction with the Chemical X in the boys' bodies.  
  
He waited tensely as the noise drew even nearer, eventually coming right in front of the cupboard he was hiding in. He could hear one of the boys floating up to grip the cupboards handle and slowly begin to pull it open. Once it was halfway open her thrust the flask forward, tossing the contents of the beaker onto whoever had been about to find him.  
  
"AH SH*T!" Boomer howled in pain as he collapsed tot he floor, screaming and clutching at his face as he writhed on the polished steel. The other boys looked over in alarm while the Professor darted for the steps, making the best of this small chance he had of escape.  
  
"BOOMER!" Both boys screamed worriedly before they streaked over to check on him. He didn't respond, just writhing on the floor screaming in pain as the chemical reacted with his own body chemistry, resulting in one of the most acidic concoctions he could think of... eating him from the inside out.  
  
"I'll get the son of a bitch!" Butch proclaimed as he shot up the stairs after the Professor who was only halfway up by this time. He fires his heat vision, tearing a hole into the stairs beneath the older man and sending him stumbling. He slammed into the stairs painfully, gasping as the corners jammed into his flesh. "You're dead." The Rowdyruff Boy said simply as he floated toward him.  
  
The Professor pushed himself frantically up the steps away from his pursuer as his hands searched through his coat pockets for anything to defend himself with. The vial of the Chemical X compound and the time-travel device...  
  
Quickly he pulled out the small device just as he saw Butch vanish into a green pinpoint of light, streaking straight at him at a furious speed. Desperately he thrust the device forward and hit the activation button, creating a vortex between him and the Rowdyruff Boy.  
  
Butch tried to stop, but his own speed and momentum carried him through the barrier and got him trapped in time somewhere he would never be able to escape from. The vortex closed behind him in a moment, leaving the Professor lying on the steps, still shaking somewhat. He'd actually survived... But there was still one boy left and time was running out.  
  
Quickly Professor Utonium forced himself to lunge to his feet and run up the stairs and out of the house. He could see the six streaks of light high above the city, flying around each other. It would only be a few minutes before the final blow was struck, he had to get to the point of impact before the girls did or everything was lost.  
  
He stopped for a moment and whirled as a scream of absolute rage rang through the air from behind him. A streak of blood red light broke easily through the roof of the house and began to fly toward him. The last of the Rowdyruff Boys from his time... what should he do now? He couldn't use the time travel device again, there was too much open space, he could fly around it and there was no more acid...  
  
So he did all he could do... he ran as fast as his legs could possibly carry him. He knew though that he didn't have a prayer of outrunning Brick, he had to think of a way to outsmart him...  
  
He looked up at the sky as a sudden bright flash lit up the entire city from just ahead of them. The Powerpuff Girls... They were down! He probably only had a few more moments before they would stop breathing and all hope would be lost. He had to think of something quickly...  
  
"Go... Revive the girls!" He shouted loudly as he flung the vial toward the sobbing crowd that had gathered around the crater with the girls in it. As he'd hoped Brick though the vial would be used by the people to revive the girls, so he fired his crimson eye beams to shatter it... directly over the crater. The precious liquid rained down on the crowd, unnoticed amidst the sorrow the entire city felt at its guardians passing... but three drops managed to make it into the hole and to the Powerpuff Girls.  
  
One drop struck each of the girls' foreheads, but that was enough to wake them from what otherwise would have been an eternal slumber. The Chemical compound seeped into their flesh, giving them new strength to live. The entire crowd became hushed as they floated out of the crater together, their heads bowed in shame...  
  
"NOO!" Brick howled angrily as he saw the girls rise from what should have been their final resting place. "YOU CAN'T I'll kill them myself!" He shrieked. Even as he spoke though his body was beginning to shimmer, vanishing into thin air.  
  
The Professor looked down at his own hands to see them vanishing as well. Instead of panicking like Brick was doing, he smiled with satisfaction. This meant the timeline was changing, history was being altered. The Powerpuff Girls would win this time... they would survive. He smiled and looked proudly as his daughters again streaked across Townsville to victory... He would enjoy knowing in these last few moments before he vanished that they and he would live together much longer than fate had planned...  
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"Time for bed girls." Professor Utonium said as he poked his head into the room of his beloved daughters. They looked up at him pouting a bit, but they didn't really argue as he got them dressed and tucked into their blankets. "Goodnight my little angels." He went across the bed, kissing each tiny forehead in turn.  
  
"Goodnight Professor." The girls replied in unison before they settled into their blankets for sleep. Before he closed the door Professor Utonium allowed himself a moment to just stare at the girls. They fought crime so much be was in constant fear that one day they might not return home... So he treasured every moment. Now and forever he would treasure every moment of The Powerpuff Girls existence.  
  
THE END 


End file.
